Six people died, including both the pilot and co-pilot, while six passengers survived when the Fairchild Metroliner twin engined turboprop crashed on its third attempt to land in thick fog on February 10 2011.

Coroner Frank O'Connell said it was not the job of the seven-member jury to apportion blame for the tragedy.

Mr O'Connell described it as an horrific tragedy and said he hoped he never again had to handle an inquest involving six deaths.

The verdict was returned after Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) senior inspector, Leo Murray, said the pilot and co-pilot were not equipped with the tools such as bad weather experience to handle the situation they found themselves in that day.

Poor decisions were compounded by fatigue and the pressure the pilots placed on themselves to land at Cork.

He said the prudent option would have been to divert to another airport after the Belfast flight had been forced to abort its second landing attempt at Cork due to poor visibility.

Air Traffic Control supervisor, Sean Patrick, confirmed that the pilots were informed in the minutes before the crash that while visibility at Cork was just 300m the visibility at Kerry Airport was around 10km.

Mr O'Connell confirmed the accidental death verdicts for all six deceased as he extended his deepest sympathies to the bereaved families.

Passengers who survived the crash landing at 9.48 am admitted that they initially feared they would be burned alive at the wrecked plane caught fire.

Survivors paid tribute to Cork Airport fire brigade units who were at the crash site within seconds and had the two engine blazes successfully extinguished before they could spread to the fuel-soaked fuselage.

Survivor Heather Elliot (57) said passengers feared the spread of fire in the seconds after the wrecked plane came to a standstill lying upside down.

"I was so terrified that we had survived the crash only to be burned alive," she said.

Passengers smelled smoke and aviation fuel as the shattered plane lay on its roof half filled with mud.

Ms Elliot and another trapped passenger, Laurence Wilson (58), held hands and prayed.

Another passenger, Peter Cowley (35), revealed he saw Shannon and Farranfore Airports on the plane’s SatNav system for possible diversions but the pilots opted to attempt a third landing in fog at Cork.

Cork fire brigade crews led by Kevin Dunne and John McCarthy had the aircraft fire doused in seconds - and all survivors removed from the wreckage in 30 minutes.

The fog was so thick rescue personnel initially couldn’t see the plane crash and only spotted its burning engines across Runway 17.